Serenity Gardens - A Blissful Way to Relax

Swami Radhananda, the director of Yasodhara Ashram in British Columbia, Canada, has sage advice for the overstressed denizens of the 21st century:

“When you desire peace, visualize your favorite place and go there whenever you want.

Place yourself in a wonderful beautiful garden – see your favorite trees, flowers, smell the most beautiful scents, feel the warm air, hear the birds sing.

 It is a very simple practice….

Sitting quietly, constructively using the senses, is one way to relax and to rest to your central nervous system. The mind is absorbed, contained, and focused…”

( www.ascentmagazine.com/columns)

Swami Radhananda describes the secret of a serenity garden. Within such a place, you can be carried away by the quiet offerings of a glorious natural world.

Your mind relaxes and loosens as you focus on colors, scents, the sunlight, birdsong or the breeze. That nervous energy within you slows down and you breathe in the moment.

The proverbial 'power of now' - sedates you.

If we can learn to stop and breathe in a garden then our society's ever-growing need for Paxil will be greatly minimized.

A serenity garden is  meant to catch our attention. This eye catcher may be the dark green, crinkled leaves and fragrant purple flowers of the luscious Heliotrope

(Heliotrope 'Fragrant Delight')

the bold, bright stripes of a White Striped Century Plant

(Agave americana medio picta alba)

or the ‘pow’ of a garden walk.

(New York Botaanical Garden - The Flower Gardens Outside their Magnificent Conservatory)

As you look at this photo of a walk your eye may travel to the 4' tall  focal point (set upon a tall plinth) or the white pine tree in the rear that stands sentry over the garden. Observation and appreciation of such things cultivates our focus - and calms us.


A serenity garden, filled with a myriad of natural wonders, offers each of us a blissful way to relax.

(Heliotrope, 'Limelight' Helichrysum, Pink Petunias, White Bacopa -  Johnsen Landscapes & Pools )